Dhaka: The mayor of the Bangladesh municipality where a factory building collapsed killing more than 400 people was suspended from office on Thursday, a government minister said, as rescuers pressed on with the task of recovering bodies from the wreckage.
The scale of the April 24, 2013 disaster has prompted a worldwide outcry at poor safety and pay in many factories making clothes for Western brands, with Pope Francis on Wednesday likening the conditions of workers who died to "slave labour".
The salvage operation remained slow despite the heavy machinery now being used to clear the rubble of Rana Plaza, in Dhaka's commercial suburb of Savar, with a handful more bodies found on Thursday taking the death toll to 430.
"We are working here round the clock," army spokesman Shahinul Islam said. "Rescue operations are taking time as everything is being done with utmost caution."...
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07:12 AM, May 03, 2013
Rome: Pope Francis told priests on Sunday to practice what they preach, saying the church's credibility was on the line. During a Mass to formally take possession of one of the Vatican basilicas in Rome, Francis said ordinary Catholics need to "see in our actions what they hear from our lips." Francis has made himself an example of a more humble and frugal church by refusing many of the trappings...
09:03 AM, Apr 15, 2013
Mumbai: The Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) on Sunday hailed the appointment of Mumbai's Cardinal Oswald Gracias by Pope Francis as one of his advisors in the Vatican. Cardinal Gracias, 68, was among the eight high-ranking advisors appointed on Saturday by the new Pope to an advisory council to look into ways of reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. CSF, a Mumbai-based Catholic NGO, said: "There could be no better person than Cardinal...
05:27 AM, Apr 15, 2013
Vatican City: India's Oswald Gracias was among eight high-ranking cardinals from around the world who were on Saturday appointed by Pope Francis in an advisory council to look into ways of reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. The council will help the Pope revise the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia Pastor bonus - the Church administration which helps him in the daily governance, the Vatican said in a statement. Pope John...
06:34 PM, Apr 13, 2013
Vatican City: Pope Francis wants the Catholic Church to "act decisively" to root out sexual abuse of children by priests and ensure the perpetrators are punished, the Vatican said on Friday. Francis, in a meeting with the Holy See's doctrinal chief, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, had declared that combating sexual abuse was important "for the Church and its credibility", a statement said. Francis inherited a Church mired in problems and a...
11:41 AM, Apr 06, 2013
Vatican City: Pope Francis wants the Catholic Church to "act decisively" to root out sexual abuse of children by priests and ensure the perpetrators are punished, the Vatican said on Friday. Francis, in a meeting with the Holy See's doctrinal chief, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, had declared that combating sexual abuse was important "for the Church and its credibility", a statement said. Francis inherited a Church mired in problems and a...
06:35 AM, Apr 06, 2013
Pope Francis delivered his first traditional Papal blessing in front of huge crowds in Saint Peter's Square on Easter Sunday. He called for peace in the Middle East, Asia and Africa and drew attention to the war in Syria. ...
04:10 PM, Apr 01, 2013
Pope Francis, appearing before more than 250,000 people for his first Easter Sunday address, called for world peace, respect for the environment and a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula. ...
11:29 PM, Mar 31, 2013
Pope Francis used his first Easter Sunday address to call for peace in the world and appealed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula. In his first "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message, Francis also called for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, an end to the civil war in Syria, and political solutions to conflicts in several African countries. ...
07:50 PM, Mar 31, 2013
Pope Francis, leading the world's 1.2 billion Catholics into Easter for the first time, on Saturday urged those who have strayed from the faith to allow God back into their lives. ...
11:53 AM, Mar 31, 2013
Pope Francis celebrated a trimmed back Easter Vigil service on Saturday after having reached out to Muslims and women during a Holy Week in which he began to put his mark on the Catholic Church. ...
06:19 AM, Mar 31, 2013
Pope Francis reached out in friendship to "so many Muslim brothers and sisters" during a Good Friday procession dedicated to the suffering of Christians from terrorism, war and religious fanaticism in the Middle East. The new pontiff, who has rankled traditionalists by rejecting many trappings of his office, mostly stuck to the traditional script during the nighttime Way of the Cross procession at Rome's Colosseum, one of the most dramatic...
08:16 AM, Mar 30, 2013
In his most significant break with tradition yet, Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of two young women at a juvenile detention center - a surprising departure from church rules that restrict the Holy Thursday ritual to men. ...
08:56 AM, Mar 29, 2013
The two men in white embraced and showed one another the deference owed a pope in ways that surely turned Vatican protocol upside down: A reigning pope telling a retired one, "We are brothers," and insisting that they pray side-by-side during a date to discuss the future of the Catholic Church. ...
08:38 AM, Mar 24, 2013
Thousands of Catholics waving flags from around the world packed St Peter's Square on Sunday to hear Pope Francis deliver his inaugural Angelus. ...
10:00 AM, Mar 18, 2013
Walking up to crowds, shaking hands with surprised bystanders in the street, mixing his formal speeches with off-the-cuff remarks, Pope Francis stamped his own style on the papacy Sunday. ...
01:27 AM, Mar 18, 2013
Newly elected Pope Francis made an appearance for the first Angelus in St Peter's Square. The first Pope from Latin America appeared before scores of people and asked the faithful to pray for him. ...
08:32 PM, Mar 17, 2013
Pope Francis, speaking to an overflow crowd of more than 150,000 in St Peter's Square, urged the world on Sunday to be more forgiving and merciful and not so quick to condemn other people's failures. "A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just," he told the cheering crowd from the window of the papal apartments overlooking the square. ...
07:33 PM, Mar 17, 2013
Pope Francis will bless crowds at St Peter's Square on his first Sunday today. ...
12:15 PM, Mar 17, 2013
Also on the show, Cyrus Broacha takes on the Australian cricket team and Pope Francis. ...
11:24 AM, Mar 17, 2013
